Synod of Dordrecht
by John Calvin

"The Synod of Dort was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618/19, by the Dutch Reformed Church, in order to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on 13 November 1618, and the final meeting, the 154th, was on 9 May 1619. Voting representatives from the Reformed churches in eight foreign countries were also invited. Dort was a contemporary colloquial English term for the town of Dordrecht. The Synod is often also referred to as Synod of Dordt, or Synod of Dordrecht."

About the Author:

"John Calvin was born "John Cauvin" on July 10, 1509 at Noyon in France. His father, Gerard Cauvin was a church leader holding ecclesiastical offices for the lordship of Noyon. Calvin's mother was Jeanne le Franc, the daughter of an innkeeper at Cambrai, who afterwards came to reside at Noyon. Gerard Cauvin was esteemed as a man of considerable wisdom and prudence, and his wife was said to be that rare combination of both a godly and attractive lady. She bore him five sons, of whom John was the second. John Calvin lived to the age of 55, dying on May 27, 1564.

John Calvin's father destined him from the start for an ecclesiastical career, and paid for his education in the household of the noble family of Hangest de Montmor. In May 1521 he was appointed to a chaplaincy in the cathedral of Noyon. The plague having visited Noyon, the young Hangests were sent to Paris in August 1523, and Calvin accompanied them. He lived with his uncle and attended as an out-student the College de la Marche. From the College de la Marche he moved to the College de Montaigu, where the atmosphere was more ecclesiastical and where he had for instructor a Spaniard who is described as a man of learning and to whom Calvin was indebted for some sound training in dialectics and the scholastic philosophy. John Calvin speedily outstripped all his competitors in grammatical studies, and by his skill and acumen as a student of philosophy, and debate. Although not yet ordained, Calvin preached several sermons to the people."